


467. The turtle and the alb

by SevlinRipley



Series: This is No-Terror Ground [4]
Category: It - All Media Types
Genre: Brief Non-Sexual Age Play, Canon-Typical Sexual Language, Established Relationship, M/M, OT7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-14 13:59:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13591545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SevlinRipley/pseuds/SevlinRipley
Summary: The Losers Club goes to the quarry, and it's the first time Richie and Eddie are hanging out with their friends since they kissed.• Thursday; June 10, 1993





	467. The turtle and the alb

It was the next day when Bill called Richie's house, saying the weather looked good to go swimming, and to be ready by the time he and Stan arrived. The water was addictive, this time of summer, so Richie didn't think twice before hanging up the phone, slipping into his swim trunks and a tee that smelled halfway decent.

Because of Eddie, and his griping alone, Richie also took the time to put on sun screen. The greasy feel of it always eased up as soon as he hit the water's surface, and admittedly... it was better than burning so red he could leave white hand prints all over himself. To the point showering felt like dowsing himself in boiling water. Plus the whole shedding skin like a lizard thing. Richie was already awkward-looking enough without molting.

They were only a quarter-block away from Eddie's house when Richie stopped coasting behind the rest. As realization dawned on him. From a distance, it looked like Eddie's curtains were pulled closed. Richie immediately began peddling faster, a burn going up his calves and thighs as he swung in-between the others, calling back over his shoulder as he got ahead. "I got 'im. You guys just chill out here." Bill's bike was easily the fastest, so they actually arrived at the Kaspbrak's paint-peeled brown fence at the same time. Richie got off his bike faster though, dropping it carelessly to the ground so that he could get to the trellis faster. Bill cast him a curious glance, but only shrugged as he watched Richie scale up to the overhang below Eddie's window.

Richie slid the window aside, emerging through the curtains, before he turned and just as quickly closed the window, locking it behind him.

Eddie looked at him, questioning eyes, but a sweet smile on his face, where he sat on his bed drawing on a piece of paper. "Getting more creative, huh?" Richie asked, coming over the bed to ruffle Eddie's hair. He was even more impressed by the fact that he couldn't tell what Eddie was actually drawing. Granted, he wasn't all that certain Eddie was very good at art as it was. Bill was the one who could draw just about anything. Eddie had only ever expressed admiration for his abilities, suggesting he probably wasn't at the same level, to be so in awe. Of course, that was Bill and Eddie for you. Hero worship, even if Eddie sometimes hated himself for it.

Craning into Richie's touch, Eddie's eyes closed as he reveled in the affection, before picking up his sippy cup at the bed table, to show he was drinking Richie's present. Richie bit his lip, eyes warm at the affirmation Eddie was enjoying himself.

"That's great," Richie said, hovering over 'baby' for a second before deciding he still needed to figure out where Eddie was with certain... things. Aspects of their relationship. Boy wouldn't grown-up Eddie be surprised to find out how good Richie'd been about not spitting out pet names left and right! "So. Look... We're all going to the quarry. And it's totally okay if you don't want to come; I can tell them you aren't feeling up to it. Or ...if you want, we can walk together. Since I don't have one of those bike caravan-trailer things," Richie said, smiling at the thought of packing Eddie and his bunny up, driving them around with the plastic windows unzipped, letting air flow through black mesh. Since he suspected this version of Eddie couldn't really _ride_ a bike, himself.

But Eddie was already scowling, the second he processed the suggestion that he might go to the quarry, little. "Don't look at me like that," Richie said, laughing, "There are trails down..." Obviously it would take them a lot longer to arrive, if they weren't going to go cliff-diving. But Richie suspected that the scowl was really more about their friends finding out. Richie sucked in a breath, and then continued, "Or you can get your big boy clothes on."

Face smoothing, Eddie nodded, sliding his knees around his picture, moving to get off the bed. "Hey," Richie said, stopping him with a hand on the side of his thigh. "Can I - Can I have a hug first?" He felt himself blushing at the request. Sounding needy. But Eddie obliged without a second's thought, as he slipped closer, and let his head fall over Richie's shoulder, arms encircling his neck.

Richie's chest puffed up, and he wrapped his arms around Eddie's back, letting out a contented sigh. "I have Tuesday off. We could go to the library together. You know, you could go incognito. Dressed up in big boy clothes, like a little boy ninja. We could get some story books and then go back to my house. Read to you." By the time Richie finished, he had halfway convinced himself to tell the other losers to fuck off, head there right now. Eddie pulled his head back just slightly, pressing a gauging look onto Richie's face that made Richie blink and look away. "If it's too much -" Eddie kissed his cheek, not saying yes. Not saying no. But telling Richie not too over-think it, just the same.

Then he stepped down from the bed, and moved to his bureau, leaving Richie to occupy his vision with Eddie's bunny, while he undressed. Richie picked it up, with both hands, and thumbed the silken belly. Steadying himself, as he furrowed his brow. "Hmm... I was going to tell you something else. I just can't remember what it was," Richie said, as Eddie made quick work of changing his clothes.

"Hey, guess what," Eddie said, after he'd unzipped himself from his onesie, and gotten half-way into his jeans.

"What?" Richie asked, nearly jerking his head back to look over. As he caught himself, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

A few seconds later he appeared before Richie in a red tee, blue jeans done up. "I kinda like you," Eddie answered, as he slotted his knees at either side of Richie's waist, and picked his wrists up from where they were lying in his lap. Richie was about to say, ' _Sweet_!' playing along, but that was when Eddie pressed him, and his wrists, back into the bed with a kiss.

Richie pressed into it eagerly, then groaned as they parted. Eddie looked down at him, a wide smile on his shadowed face. "You have _got_ to stop giving me reasons not to go."

"Oh yeah?" Eddie asked, at the same time as a knock came from his window. They both looked in its direction, playful smiles evaporating.

"Oh. That. Right, I was gonna tell you you have to start locking your window again, because Bill almost came up. _And_ I guess he has."

"Crap," Eddie mumbled, backing off of Richie, onto the floor, before going to grab his fanny pack from his closet.

Moving from the bed to the window, Richie swept the curtains back and popped the window open. " _Bill_ ," Richie said, sing-song.

"W-what's taking s-so long? W-we're b-b-burning up out there."

"You know this dweeb, Bill. Had to re-stock his fanny packs. Besides, just get some water from the hose, you pussy."

Bill shook his head, a grimace of a smile on his face. "S-shut up. Coming or n-not?"

"Well we can't all three go down at one time, so get a move on," Richie said, following Bill, out the window. He glanced back and Eddie was already at the sill, placing a hand over Richie's wrist momentarily. Chest tight, Richie damned Bill in his head. He sighed, long-suffering, as he turned away from Eddie's smirking face.

Down they went, to their bikes, and off they rode, to the quarry.

"C'mon, I have something to show you," Richie said, grabbing Eddie's hand beneath the green waters, just for a moment. Eddie looked at him, scrutinizing, then back to their friends who were swimming just a few feet away.

"But -"

They'd been swimming for about an hour, together. Meandering between holding each other's ankles and linking elbows as they floated together, quietly basking in the sun because with their ears beneath the surface it was too difficult to understand what anyone said, anyway. And playing chicken, switching partners, then playing again. At one point classes came up, as they all tread water in a circle, and they all agreed to sign up for the courses they genuinely wanted to take. Rather than signing up for electives just to be with the others. They all agreed studying in a group after school sounded like a decent way to get friend-time in, but Stan, the cautious one, did say that if Richie got too rowdy he demanded they gag him, or he'd be forced to leave. Richie's eyebrows had a field day with _that_ suggestion, but he agreed to one 'Beep beep, Richie' per session, and if he went beyond that, he'd owe everyone pizza and an hour's worth of silence.

"I have to tell Eddie Spaghetti a secret, so we'll be right back!" Richie called out, over his shoulder.

 _Okay_ , Eddie thought. He'd just have to follow along to see what this was all about. Richie was half-swimming, half dragging Eddie along by his hand. Some way into their journey, Eddie wrenched his hand away so that they could move along at a better pace. He looked offended just for a moment, but as Eddie began free-styling in the direction he'd been leading, Richie let it go, and moved forward.

"Where are you taking us, exactly?" Eddie asked.

"Oh, I found this awesome alcove once when I was out here by myself," Richie said, slowing as they grew near to the edge of the waterway.

The water behind Richie stopped swishing back, Eddie clearly having stopped kicking his legs, moving his arms. Stagnate as he said, "You were _what_? Richie, that's dangerous!"

"Ha, you're so cute... Don't worry; I had a life jacket on. I was trying to see if I could build a raft. You know, like Huck Finn. Spoiler: it didn't work. But while I was looking for something to tie things together with, I found these vines." They had apparently arrived, as Richie lifted some thin, over-hanging green stems from a plant that was born in a crag halfway up the canyon. There he revealed a dark little dip in the face of the wall.

They swam in together, Eddie taking it in. It was nice, but the water around them already felt about ten degrees colder. But then Richie swam up to him, until they were chest to chest, and pressed a warmth into him to make up for it. "You trying to be romantic, Tozier?" Eddie asked, smirking, a single eyebrow arched.

Richie shrugged. "I realized after I left yesterday that _I_ never actually got to say it so... I love you."

"I love you, too. Nerd," Eddie said, on a breathy laugh, but then he realized that Richie still had a serious face on. More serious, actually, because there was a dip between his eyes, as he apparently worked a thought over in his mind. "What's wrong?"

"Well," Richie started, huffing out a little breath as he looked off to the side, "That's not one of those phrases that loses its meaning after a while, is it? Because I kind of feel like I want to say it all the time. But I don't want to get in a dozen and then find out it's like 'fork' and you're just like, 'Great, fork again, I fork you too.' You know? So can you tell me if it starts to get stale so I can save it up or something?"

Eddie smiled, just a soft curve of his mouth, as he found Richie's hands, and held them both at either side of them. "I don't think you have to worry about that. But, yes, I promise I'll tell you. You'll tell me too, right?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you." Richie shook a few more drops of water from the ends of his hair, as Eddie squinted, needlessly deflecting them from hitting his eyes. Then he bit into his lip, then said, "Can I be honest for a sec?"

"Because you weren't being honest before...?"

"You know what I mean. But exactly. While we're already on the subject of honesty."

Not to be suspicious or paranoid, but Eddie felt his nostrils flare slightly, mouth pursed. Finally he said, "What is it? I've only told you I love you twice, so it better not already -"

"Pfft. No. You _wish_ you could get out of it that easy!"

"Then what is it?"

"You're gonna think I'm the lamest person in the world."

"I already do."

" _Thanks_. But I'm serious."

"Richie. I'm _not_ going to think you're lame. And even if I do, it'll only be in the fondest way possible. Okay?" Should he feel guilty about reveling in how needy Richie could get? Something farther back in his head reasoned that it was actually probably a good thing. It seemed to pull compassion from him, allowing him to address Richie in a much kinder way than he did before - when they were both pretending that they were just friends.

"You can't control that, but fine. And I'm only telling you because I'm highly paranoid, so you _have_ to be nice to me." He inhaled deeply, and then produced a rushed, "I'm worried you're gonna get bored of me. I mean we're still just in high school. Do you know what the statistics are for high school relationships? Me neither, but they're not good, probably!"

Eddie squeezed Richie's hands tighter, then let go of just one, bringing his palm up to smooth down Richie's side, hold him at the waist. "You could get bored of me, too, you know." He knew it sounded condescending, but really. Richie was being ridiculous. Not that it was surprising... He was _always_ ridiculous.

"No I couldn't!"

"Well. Neither could I Richie. We've only even just..."

"Yeah, I know we've only just. But _I've_ never been in a relationship before. I have no idea what my natural trajectory will be."

"I've never been in one either. We're in the same exact boat. And I'm _not_ gonna get bored of you. Besides. We'll just... if it gets to that point, there are breaks we can take, or like. Open relationship shit. Or something. We'll just have to be honest with each other if we feel like we're. You know, curious about other people. That way we can decide what to do _together_."

"Yeah... I _guess_ ," Richie said, considering. "You know, I think Stan could fuck me up pretty good. And I don't mean in a vanilla way." Then came the ' _Whoo-tschh!_ ' sound of a whip cracking¹, and Richie threw his arm out at the elbow, right along with it. At first Eddie's eyebrows drew together, but a bare moment later he blushed, swallowed thickly, and looked to the wall, shoulders rising. "Whoa, Edster. My _gosh_! Interested much? If you wanna watch me and Stan go at it, I can go get h-"

"Fuck off," Eddie said shortly, releasing his hold on Richie, as he floated backward till his back was against the wall of the alcove. He tamped down any residual images Richie had shoe-horned into his mind, as he looked back and said, thoughtfully, "If you're going for someone cause they'd be rough with you and I wouldn't, then I should go for the same thing, right?"

"Who the hell would rough _you_ up? You're like a puppy."

"Shut up." Eddie turned, as if to look out passed the vines to their friends. But the vines were dense and their friends were around a bend. "...Do you think Ben has the potential to Hulk out?"

"Ben? Wow, I thought you'd go for Bill. Or Mike."

"Do you _want_ Stan to kill me? We'd all go for Mike. But there's no way in hell..."

"True," Richie said, shrugging. Although, he thought as long as Stan was the first and last to get Mike, he _might_ be open to sharing. "So no to Bill?"

"I mean. I'd be _comfortable_ with Bill. But that's not really what we're talking about - is it?"

"I dunno. I think Bill'd be pretty fun. I wonder if his co-" Eddie covered Richie's mouth as he finished speaking the word into Eddie's palm, and then removed it, nose turned up in disgust. "Stutters as much as _he_ does, when he c-"

" _Richie_. Jesus Christ."

"Well I _do_!"

Shaking his head, Eddie said, "Anyway, asshole. Maybe I'd have to find someone outside the group, someone who _doesn't_ see me as a harmless puppy."

"I didn't say 'harmless,' I just said 'puppy.'" Then Richie frowned. "Wait. We are just joking, right, because..."

Eddie smirked, then swam forward to kiss him until he'd effectively stolen any breath away Richie might have used to continue worrying. His arms dripping over Richie's almost-dry shoulders, where they were wrapped around him. "We're just joking."

"I really do think Stan wants to punch me sometimes," Richie said. Eddie cocked his head to the side and shrugged with one shoulder.

"That doesn't mean he cares about you any less than the rest of us," Eddie said, while Richie leaned their temples together, the edge of his glasses between them. Uncomfortable a nuzzle as it was, Eddie smiled, pressed his cheek gently into Richie's as his embrace turned into a hug.

"Oh, I know. If he did, he would've done it by now."

Eyes alight, with pieces of Richie's wet hair threatening to plaster themselves to Eddie's face, Eddie turned to place his cheek flat along Richie's shoulder, eyes facing out toward the sun glowing out passed the vines, again. "Anyway, is this why you brought me over here? To tell me you love me, that you're afraid to lose me, and that you think you might like it if Stan bruises you?"

"Okay first of all, _you_ think you might like it if Stan bruises me, too. Let's not forget that. Second of all, no. Well. Yeah. Some of that. But also ... I just wanted to say that I know I haven't actually kept up on my word to like, hang off of you every second. I don't want you to think that I'm ashamed. I just..."

"It's okay to be nervous."

"But it's not," Richie said seriously, pulling his head back, calling Eddie's gaze to meet his eyes. "Why do Ben and Bev get to not worry about everyone knowing? I _really_ don't think they'll have a problem with us. Right? I think I'm just. Letting fucking Bowers get in my head and that's the stupidest shit I've ever heard, cause I haven't seen him in over _four_ years, and it pisses me off."

"Yeah... I think, me too, a little bit." And it _was_ massively infuriating to know that remarks from years ago had stuck with them so long. Made them scared of their own friends, not to mention the rest of the town. Just because of the fact that they were two guys, unlike Ben and Bev with their hetero-normative shtick. "But I don't think we have to _announce_ it. I mean, I know _they_ told us when they started dating, but I think that was more so Bill could fess up any remaining issues he might have had with it."

"I guess," Richie said, although he didn't sound particularly swayed by the argument. "You don't think he _did_ , do you?"

"Hard to say. He's Bill."

And Richie knew exactly what Eddie meant by that. Bill's brain was deeper than the well. So deep even simple words were difficult to find, including his very own name. Complex. "Well, it clearly didn't ruin their friendship, so I think he's okay."

"Probably. But - I also don't think Bill could be petty if his life depended on it."

"Mm," Richie said, nodding his head in agreement. Well, he hoped Bill was okay, anyway.

"Ready to go back? They're gonna think we drowned."

Eddie was already pulling back, out toward the border of light, when Richie put on a whiny voice, asking, "Do we have to?" His hand caught Eddie's, halting his progression into the sun. Licking out at his lower lip, Eddie shook his head, long-suffering before looking back at Richie.

"Yes, and it's also about time for everyone to reapply their sunblock so we have to go to the tree on our way back, too."

The tree. The summer after, they had ripped some cable cord off from a junkyard, and tied one end to a tree nearby the jumping point, then tied it to a limb on a tree below, where there was a lip of shore. They'd done so to accommodate Eddie's fanny packs, first. A-fix the clasp around the cord, and just slide it on down, to be caught by the tree. Eventually Bill had been given one of Eddie's old ones for some folded up paper and colored pencils so he could draw if he wanted. And an extra that was always stationed at the top just in case anyone else brought something that couldn't get wet on the drop down into the waters. Then at the end of the day, they'd un-clip the fanny packs from the cord, and make their way up the trail to the top, everything kept nice and dry.

" _Fine_ ," Richie groused. But he lunged forward, wrapping himself around Eddie's back, enough to press a smiling kiss to Eddie's cheek. "Love you."

"Fork you, too..." Eddie said, laughing, and pinching back at Richie's sides to get him off, and make himself mobile again.

"We're ba **a** ack!" Richie said, sing-song, as he swam closer to the group. Eddie trailed behind him, sunblock tube in hand. Richie cupped his hand and yelled even louder, "Run for your lives. Meddie has arrived!" Eddie rolled his eyes as several of their friends offered a loud sigh in response. Mike, despite his grimace, fell into the first place in line, allowing Eddie to begin smearing the cream over his back. "By the way, guys, me and Eds are married now."

Eddie's slippery hands skittered right off of Mike's shoulder. "Rich!" He blushed, scandalized.

Unimpeded, Richie continued, "Yeah, we found a turtle over there, and he was wearing an alb, so we thought 'what the hell' and got hitched. Ben, Bev? Want me to go see if he's willing to officiate another?"

Bev laughed, although Ben blushed all the way down his chest, as she said, "I think we might at least wait till college. Congrats, though!"

"Thanks," Richie said, pulling Eds closer by his neck, to rub his knuckles over Eddie's head. Yet again, interrupting the process of covering all visible parts of Mike's body in a protective sheen. "But seriously, we're together now." Eddie pushed him off, two-handed, one-bottled, muttering under his breath, 'Stop, idiot.'

"A decision Eddie is already regretting," Stan said, monotone, eyes sparkling slightly in amusement.

"Yeah, well. We weren't going to announce it, but. _Alright_." Eddie said, turning Mike to face him, so he could begin work on his face.

Richie shrugged, although unnoticeable, hovering in the water as he was. "I know. I changed my mind. We needed an ice-breaker, and besides all you losers are so slow you never would've figured it out on your own."

"Uh - I've seen this coming since I was thirteen. All in agreement say 'Aye'," Mike said, head turned, his left ear now being tended to.

"Aye," echoed everyone but Eddie and Richie. Eddie made a sound of disgust, but didn't say anything as he flipped the bottle's cap down. Swimming to sit at Mike's side, to see who would step up as his next victim.

"Great! So we're all agreed: Eds and I are the cutest couple in our group." Ben cleared his throat, purposefully. "Oh, don't worry Haystack. I don't mean in _looks_. I just mean I'll fight you if you think you're more in love with Bev than I am with Eds, here." He jerked a thumb back toward Eddie.

" _I_ for one," Bev said, swimming slightly ahead of Ben, "Think we should just celebrate the fact that we have people to love and leave it at that."

" _Thank you_ ," Eddie said, voice filled with relief. "Agreed. Also, Bev?" He shook the bottle in the air, and, resigned, she shifted toward him.

"How could you?" Richie asked, bringing his hands over his heart. Betrayed, that Eddie wouldn't take his side, willing to fight, himself. He swam over to give Ben a huge hug, water sloshing out from between them in drawing waves. "Just playin' man... I'd probably rather live to see the end of the world, than have you and Bev break up."

"Thanks, Richie," Ben said, smiling warmly, clapping Richie's back, as he moved side-long, their arms stretched across each other's shoulders. Richie watched as Eddie squirt an excessive amount of cream into Bev's palm, for her to do her own chest.

A contented breath of air filled his chest. "No problemo, mi amigo."

"Hey Richie, what's an alb?" Ben asked, looking at him from the corner of his eye.

"Oh just this white thing priests wear."

"Oh okay. Cool."

"We didn't really see a turtle."

Ben flushed. "I know."

Squeezing his shoulder, Richie smiled wide, saying, "Ah, Haystack... Sometimes I swear you're my favorite."

He watched as Ben got that 'aw shucks' look on his face, and then pulled Ben even closer into his side. "I heard that!" Eddie called, out from under Mike's elbow. Rescuing Bev, probably. Eddie always worried over how many freckles she was getting, tended to slather her in extra lotion each and every time.

"Oh _please_ , don't act like Bill isn't _yours_."

Bangs hanging in his face, a waterfall of river water trailing from its ends, having just popped up from behind, where he'd had Stan on his shoulders, Bill said, "I. I am n-not getting between the t-t-two of you."

"But ya could," Richie said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Bill rolled his eyes, but huffed out a laugh as he hopped onto Stan for a piggy-back carry. Mike let go of Eddie, and then swam under the water to destabilize Stan and Bill's tower, coming up laughing as they splashed back up to the surface. "If you weren't so busy getting between Stan and Mike," Richie muttered to himself. Ben had disappeared to Beverly's side, and Eddie appeared at his. "I dunno Eds... I kinda vote that if we do any swingin', we keep it _in_ the group." He tucked Eddie into his side with an arm around his shoulder, and then kissed the upper side of his head.

"Yeah. Okay. I'm good with that," Eddie said, tilting his head back to press a kiss to Richie's mouth instead.

Then came several catcalls led by Beverly, which resulted in a much deeper, more blush-worthy kiss for show. "I'm still joking. Mostly," Richie said quickly, after Eddie poked him in the gut to pause their PDA.

"Me too," Eddie said, sighing. It seemed like it was going to be a long road ahead convincing Richie that he didn't immediately want out of their relationship. It'd be worth proving, though. "Here," Eddie said, shoving the sunscreen at Richie, "Do me."

"With pleasure."

"Gross. Shut up. It's your turn next."

" _Fuck_ yes!"

" _Richie_. Focus."

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. [Please take note that Eddie is Chandler, and Richie is Joey. Thank you.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aop6EARn6v4)
> 
> 2\. Personal Service Announcement, I am utterly obsessed with [this](https://bury.tumblr.com/post/168769142529/eddie-boyfriend-who-punches-bees-for-richie-stan), specifically the Stan one. So. Like. If anyone has seen an actual fic of this, please for the love of god rec it to me. I don't even care what language it's in. I'll read the most broken of English translations to get a slice.
> 
> 3\. I have put up a working-outline for this series, because I probably won't always post parts in the order they happen IC. This can be found [here](http://archiveofourown.org/series/933888).
> 
> 4\. Call me out on lines that are crap, or OTT. ♥ 
> 
> (P.S. some out-there kinks will be coming into play as they get older? Which I'm guessing only a handful of people besides myself would have any interest in. So yeah, don't read it if you don't like it, because I don't want to ruin the (what I call) innocence and wholesome nature of the first few parts of this series. Cause that's really important to me that it doesn't get destroyed for anyone. Not that anyone's like... enamored by it anyway, but yeah. Fair warning given? I tried.)


End file.
